


I'm coming up for light

by blackkat



Series: Tumblr Drabbles [126]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, First Meetings, Jedi Tobirama, M/M, Smuggler Minato
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-11 20:05:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15979520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat
Summary: “What isthat?” Tobirama demands incredulously.“Your way out of this system,” Kushina says cheerfully, and Tobirama suddenly understands far better why she’s hanging on his arm like she’s going to physically pin him in place.





	I'm coming up for light

“What is _that_?” Tobirama demands incredulously.

“Your way out of this system,” Kushina says cheerfully, and Tobirama suddenly understands far better why she’s hanging on his arm like she’s going to physically pin him in place. He shoots her a dark look, and she grins at him in return, all sharp teeth and red eyes. “Oh, come on, Master Tobirama, it’s not _that_ bad.”

Tobirama makes a deeply skeptical noise in the back of his throat. “I've seen ships on their way to the junkyard that look more reliable,” he says, and attempts to shake her off. Kushina is just like her aunt, though; there's no moving her until she _wants_ to be moved, and Tobirama only has one arm anyway.

With a laugh, Kushina drags him forward, towards the lowered ramp. “Aunt Mito thought you’d say that, and she said to remind you about the Kiri trip.”

Of course she would bring that up, Tobirama thinks with a grimace. Bad enough that his former crechemate turned pirate queen knows every questionable thing Tobirama has ever done, but if she’s sharing them with her niece—

“Kushina!” a bright voice calls, and there's a clatter of steps. A figure bounds down the ramp, and Kushina instantly abandons Tobirama to throw herself at the man, sweeping him off his feet and into a tight hug. Tobirama keeps his distance; the Uzumaki as a race are exuberant and also wildly stronger than most, which Tobirama learned the hard way. Mito still has a tendency to punch him in the shoulder hard enough to bruise bone when she’s particularly happy, and her niece doesn’t have nearly as much restraint as Mito does.

“Hey, Minato!” Kushina says cheerfully, letting the man down. He staggers a step, but his smile doesn’t waver, bright and happy. He’s very blond, Tobirama thinks, eyeing him, and shifts his burden slightly as his arm starts aching.

“Kushina,” Minato repeats with a laugh, and then steps back. “Should you really be here right now? The Zetsu are looking for any Uzumaki in the system—”

“Don’t worry about _me_ , pretty boy,” Kushina retorts. “Senator Mikoto is still at the palace, and I'm going to get her out. It’s all the Zetsu in my way you should be concerned for.”

Minato's smile is wry. “Well, if you need help, I'm here.”’

“You won't be, with any luck.” Kushina turns, waving to Tobirama, and tells Minato, “I found you some business!”

Blue eyes flicker past Kushina, lock on Tobirama, and narrow faintly. That smile doesn’t waver, but Tobirama can see the calculation behind it as he moves forward to join them, the way Minato's eyes linger on the fall of his cloak, the child asleep on his shoulder.

“Kushina?” Minato asks carefully.

“Get them out of the system,” Kushina says. “Preferably all the way to Konoha, if you can. Aunt Mito will transfer the credits as soon as you make it, and cover any expenses. The Zetsu are going to be looking for them, so you need to make it fast.”

“Fast is my specialty,” Minato jokes, but his expression slips into seriousness as he looks at Tobirama again. “Can I ask what you did to get a whole army on your tail?”

Tobirama raises a brow at him. “If you’d like,” he says dryly.

Minato laughs, a little surprised. “Will you answer?” he asks.

With a smirk, Tobirama raises a brow, and very pointedly doesn’t respond.

“See, you’re getting along already!” Kushina says brightly, and leaves Minato to hook an arm around Tobirama’s neck, pulling him down so she can kiss his cheek. She strokes Karin's hair while she’s close, studying her carefully, and then meets Tobirama’s gaze with a firm slant to her mouth. “Take care of her, okay? I know—”

“She will remain with me,” Tobirama promises, and means it. Karin is stronger in the Force than any child he’s met before, and she’s going to need Tobirama’s help in particular controlling her awareness. She’s verging on too old for the creche, as well, and Tobirama has been without a padawan for years; finding an Uzumaki child with so much raw power on his mission was clearly the will of the Force, and Tobirama isn't about to deny it.

“Send me a message when you're safe and I’ll come visit,” Kushina says cheerfully, but she leans in to kiss Karin's hair lightly, then pulls back.

“Good luck rescuing your senator,” Tobirama returns, and Kushina's grin turns wolfish. She waves, turns, and vanishes into the busy spaceport with a whirl of long red hair, and Tobirama doesn’t let himself watch her go. Kushina was trained by Mito; she’ll be fine no matter what trouble she gets into.

“It’s probably good we’re leaving now,” Minato says in her wake, laughing a little. “Half the planet will probably be on fire by the time she’s done with it.”

“Only the half occupied by the Zetsu,” Tobirama says dismissively, and when Minato leaps lightly up the ramp he follows. The interior of the ship is at least clean, in decent repair given the outside, and he doesn’t feel like he’s about to fall through the grating, which is an unlooked-for blessing. The presence of hidden compartments under his feet is something of a surprise, though it likely shouldn’t be.

“You're a smuggler?” he asks, careful to keep any note of censure out of his voice. It’s to be expected, probably; if Mito relies on him with valuable packages, he likely isn't the type to file cargo logs.

“I prefer _intrepid businessman_ ,” Minato says cheerfully, and casts him a curious look as he heads for the cockpit. “Are you one of Mito's customers?”

“An old friend,” Tobirama says. Mito always has fun pretending she’s just another pirate, and he isn't about to spoil her fun. Watching her show her Jedi training just when an opponent thinks she’s in over her head is one of the greatest joys in Tobirama’s life.

“You must be a good friend, if Kushina likes you so much,” Minato says, but doesn’t otherwise press. He slides into the pilot’s seat to start his pre-flight check, and simply flashes a smile when Tobirama settles in the seat beside him. “And if she’s trusting you with another Uzumaki.”

Tobirama carefully settles Karin in his lap, passing a hand over her hair as he checks her. Still exhausted; she was being held by several Zetsu for her strong Force presence, and they practically drained her. “Karin is the one in danger,” he says. “The sooner I can get her to Konoha, the better.”

“I can do sooner,” Minato promises him, patting the helm fondly. “She might not look like much, but she’s the fastest ship in six systems.”

She had better be. Tobirama breathes out, feeling the faint ripple in the world around them that means things are stirring, changing. “We should go,” he says. “There are Zetsu in the spaceport.”

“What? Why didn’t you say something before?” Minato sounds alarmed, and immediately starts moving faster. The engines come to life with a surprisingly quiet hum, and Tobirama closes his eyes as they lift off, cloaking his presence, and Karin's as well.

“Kushina told you we were being hunted,” he says practically, and Minato rolls his eyes, then pauses, frowning at one of the readouts.

“Oh,” he says, eyes narrowing. “They must have someone on the inside in the port. They're denying us takeoff.”

At the same moment, there's a jolt, hard enough to nearly knock Tobirama from his seat. Minato catches himself, curses under his breath, and says, “One of the engines just went down, I can't get it back online from up here.”

Opening himself to the Force is dangerous with the Zetsu so close, but Tobirama risks it, lets the current of it wash around him, overwhelming, like stepping into a tapestry of light and sound. He focuses, and like always it’s so close to too much, the spaceport around them, the planet far below, so many souls and all their pains and triumphs. Vivid, even as Tobirama draws his senses back, concentrates on the ship itself, and—

“There's one aboard the ship,” he says, and rises to his feet. “And three fighters just took off after us.”

“I’ll lose them,” Minato says with easy confidence. “But the one on the ship—”

“Is mine,” Tobirama finishes, and settles Karin in the seat, checking her once more. The threads around her are tangled, edging towards Dark, but Tobirama got to her in time, and he won't let her fall back into their hands. Straightening, he drops his cloak over her, then turns, and he can hear Minato's breath catch in his throat.

“ _Oh_ ,” Minato says, blue eyes wide. “You're a _Jedi_?”

Tobirama inclines his head. “Master Tobirama,” he says. “Of Konoha's main Temple. Focus on flying. I will take care of the rat and fix the engine.”

Minato's gaze slides over him, lingers on the lightsaber at his hip, and he smiles brilliantly. “Of course!” he says cheerfully. “This maneuver always works. I call it the Spiraling Flash Super Round Dance Howl—”

“Just fly the ship,” Tobirama interrupts, though he can't fight a small smile. Minato is certainly a character.

Minato winks at him, and says, “Good hunting.”

Tobirama smirks, ducks out of the cockpit, and takes two running steps. A leap, a touch of the Force, and he drops down to the next deck, already drawing his lightsaber.


End file.
